But much like Lex Luthor and Superman occasionally do in the comics, these bitter enemies have found cause to try to set their difference aside, while facing a common threat. The pair was set to go to battle with each other in a trial starting Dec 6 in Delaware's Chancery Court. NVIDIA and Intel, though, have asked the court to postpone the trial concerning licensing issues to 2011, buying time for a settlement.

The settlement would be advantageous to both firms. Both have grown weary during the long legal campaign, which has stretched over six years, since being filed in 2004. The legal battle has been filled with suits and countersuits, with both chipmakers trying to deny each other access to their respective technologies, and alleging breaches of contract.

While Intel is the largest CPU chipmaker and NVIDIA is the world's second largest graphics chipmaker, both companies have missed out on potential revenue that could have come from joint products.

If they can reach a settlement, the quality of desktop hardware could be boosted. By allowing NVIDIA the right to make chipsets for its new CPUs, something that Intel has currently rejected, consumers could gain access to faster gaming and productivity offerings. And in the netbook sector the pair could at last offer an affordable ION+Atom platform that would mark a true competitor to AMD's dual-threat "Brazos" Fusion chip.

Is NVIDIA finally ready to put away its "can of whoop-ass"? We should have an answer to that in weeks or months to come.

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